


Prey.

by GoAskAllyse



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, F/F, F/M, I don't know if there are ships, I'm seeing where this goes, Just to be safe, M/M, Multi, Other, Role Reversal, sympathetic huntress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2020-09-06 23:11:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20299495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoAskAllyse/pseuds/GoAskAllyse
Summary: When survivors become unappealing, what is left for the apex predator of the Red Forest to hunt?





	1. Preface : Teaser

**Author's Note:**

> This is a teaser to gauge interest for a fic idea that I had. Someone asked me which character I would write were I to write something for DBD and I absolutely adore the Huntress as a character; I look forward to the opportunity to write her as both terrifying and somewhat sympathetic. Let me know if this is a concept I should pursue; if I get a positive response I'll have the first chapter up on the last day of August. 
> 
> Cheers!

** _Prologue: Predator. _ **

_Bayu bayushki bayu-_

It was an apt warning, wasn’t it?

To tell others not to sleep too close to the edge of the bed, not to go out at night into the darkness- into **_her_** forest. It hadn’t always been just hers, but wolves learn their trade from somewhere and in those moments in her frozen Eden Anna had been happy. She had been a _happy_ child; the forest was all she had known. The forest and her mother. The toys, the stories, the gentle comfort of her warm arms until it was all taken by an elk’s great horns in a flurry of pain and blood. She did not remember how badly she had cried, how the life leaving her mother’s body warmed her as much as the withering embrace that held her.

The world faded. Memory cleared until there was nothing but the forest. _Her_forest. The first of them had been squirrels and minks but in time paltry things could no longer satisfy a growing girl. From girl to woman, from woman to monster. She had never thought of herself as a monster, merely another creature of the land and another thing that those soft, clueless villagers needed to be wary of. Until, of course, they were gone- too. She’d taken all of them; the greatest of hunters from the village who dared venture too far into her shadows. The errant darlings who she tried so desperately to embrace; the forest claimed all of them. **She** was not the greatest thing in them, though Anna had raged against it all the same.

It was different here. She hummed through that lullaby that had kept her so calm, mask perched atop her face. It did not matter if she were beautiful or grotesque- these things had little to do with the hunt. Her aim mattered. Her relentless nature mattered. Her ability to be that tireless predator who would not _rest_ until she had taken her quarry **_mattered_**. But even then, these boring survivors had become easy prey.

They ran.

They cowered.

The did not thrash or fight back the way the huntsmen had. The way the villagers had. The way the _soldiers _had.

These masked things, though? This strange pack of beings who did as she did? They seemed like worthy prey, didn’t they? The Huntress did not care for their names; she never had much use for something so pointless. When she had come through the fog there was such a bounty to be had but just like the squirrels and the minks these others were nothing.

No, no those masked ones. The four of _them_. They would do nicely.

_“Bayu bayushki bayu…”_


	2. Object of Obsession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a terrible trial, the Entity has made its displeasure known to Susie. Meanwhile, something terrible lurks outside the abandoned lodge. 
> 
> The hunt has begun.

Ormond.

That was the name of this place, she had learned.

The Huntress enjoyed this section of the entity’s realm; it was strange with its hills and the great lodge almost always nestled into the center of the map. She liked it here; the cold reminded her of her home and reminded her of better times… not as if this were not a perfect time. Not as if this was not some strange paradise with her own nigh-on endless supply of challenges and new ways to experience the thrill of the hunt. Anna was once the most remarkable thing in the forest but these outsiders did not know her and did not know the stories.

She could warn them.

She could give them a head start.

The masked woman made her way slowly around the perimeter of the map, her left hand tracing across the exposed bright as she observed each corner and marked every step. One… two… three… She made note of where her hooks were, counted each place where she would make her sacrifices to the Entity in some sort of thanks for the opportunities it had granted her. Anna could have done this blind, could have made it a fair fight but… what good would that have done? What hunter would willingly cripple their prey and leave them to bleed? No, it was undignified. It was **patronizing**.

These rabbits. These masked ones. The four of them hunted as a pack, and she knew better than to take an entire pack of wolves together. Anna knew what she would need to do and knew the tools she would need for the job. The huntress stopped her march across the map and lingered close to one of the red rusted lockers dotted across the landscape. The door creaked as she opened it, her calloused fingertips dragged across the hilts of her hatches before she settled on one in particular.

The glass-like head captured light and blood in an unnatural way, and when her fingers slid across the head it hungered for not just blood but for the soul of whatever it touched. It was **power. **Forged and still warm with the entity’s power; there were rules for using this hatchet. She could only have one, and only one with her at any times. There were things which were sporting, and were Anna to be tempted to take more than one she would no doubt face the wrath of the Entity. It may take its bounty from her, deprive her of using such a fine gift.

Yes, this fog-forged hatchet would do nicely.

She slammed the door shut before hooking the weapon to her belt. Anna hummed to herself, jaunty and amused while she surveyed the area. Yes. _Yes, this _would_ do nicely._ The huntress continued along her path, having walked the perimeter and surveyed her domain- the bones channeling the ancient curses glowing dimly in her mind and pinged on her awareness; she knew they would look for them soon enough… but they didn’t know they were _in_ a challenge, did they? Prey was not often aware it was being hunted; once it did, it was often too late for them.

Anna stopped her approach, standing still for long enough that the fog enveloped her and silence overtook her visage. No heartbeat, no light, all that came was the quiet hum of her mother’s lullaby behind closed lips. She watched as the taller boy- the painted one- make his way down a path through walls and past a burning trash can towards the lodge. There was blood on his knife, but something about his gait was different than usual. Something seemed… off. Anna dismissed the thought, and waited to see where he was going before she broke away from him. The Huntress saw a brief flash of pink in the distance- a small body.

Something sparked within her.

Something terrible whispered in her ears, insisted that this was the one worth chasing- _this_ was the one who was special among them. The one with which she could either make an example or keep as her own. The Huntress stalked around the back of the building, observing the small one- the pink one- cautiously. Would she run?

No… no… footsteps came slow and cautious, but the axe was still held in her hand as she observed the pink-haired girl. She seemed smaller than the others, more innocent. She seemed… as though she didn’t belong here. Of course, all of them belonged here. Something caught the attention of the Entity or else the pink one would not remain with the other killers; was there some potential she did not understand? A potential for skill in the hunt? Anna was unsure, but whatever the case her quarry would not be lost. Footfalls grew more and more cautious, though the humming ceased and was replaced with actual singing.

They were the words that would calm any spirit- a warning to all those who would dare enter **_her_** forest… but the beast was expanding her territory. She thought back fondly of her mother, of the way her arms felt around her and the way that gentle fingers through her dark hair had once been so soothing. The pink one seemed so _sad_. So alone…. Even in her pack, she seemed alone. Perhaps she could keep one again- just one- maybe this time-

** _NO._ **

A warning. A stern warning that reverberated in her ears and left a jagged feeling in her chest. Anna gripped her axe more tightly as she continued forward…

She would have her prey.

** _-=-_ **

> ** _-Do it-_ **
> 
> _“Please don’t-” Kate pleaded._
> 
> ** _-Give me one of them-_ **
> 
> _“I know you don’t want to hurt me-“_
> 
> ** _-she knows too much-_ **
> 
> _“-I can see it-”_
> 
> ** _-the h u n g e r shall not be d e n i e d-_ **

It didn’t matter how loud she turned the music up on her Walkman, Susie Lancaster could not push the sounds of the Entity and the previous trial from her mind. It was _angry_ with her. She had gained its disappointment and displeasure before, but never had Susie believed that she made that thing **_angry_**. She tried to push the sound out of her mind but it leaked into everything, even into the mixtapes she had laying around. It whispered through the headphones, growled and graveled something incomprehensible just layered underneath Nirvana B-sides Julie seemed to like so much. It was angry. It was angry with _her_.

_Bayu bayushki bayu_

_ne ložisja na kraju. Pridët seren’ki volčok_

Susie pressed her back closer to the outside of the building. The trial was over. It had been over for hours but she still couldn’t bring herself to walk back inside and face her friends. Mount Ormond had always been cold, and even after they had made their way through the fog and come to this awful place it always managed to stay _cold_. A lingering feeling that stuck in her stomach and hurt her lungs every time she breathed in. The old resort was falling apart long before they had been transported here and every trip back to it rendered some part of it _different_. Lockers and storage chests appeared and disappeared and left the pink-haired girl convinced that she had come to be trapped in a doll house. The furniture pieces moved and the elements of her home were rearranged again and again and again until Susie wasn’t completely sure that Ormond hadn’t been covered in generators and useless walls before.

What if this had always been her life?

What would happen if this was always going to _be_ her life?

Susie let the cold seep into her and let that numbing sensation ground her. Being present in the body was sometimes easier than being present in mind; focusing on how her body felt could help her get her mind back in order. There were footsteps in the distance coming closer, and a familiar frame sauntered back into vision. Frank was distinct. He wasn’t quite as strongly built as Joey was, but he had a strange sort of feral grace to him. It was the same type of grace one found in the underfed wolves at the carnival. He always seemed hungry back home; this was the only place that Frank ever seemed _satiated_. Susie wanted to crawl inside before he took notice of her.

_i uhvatit za bočok. On uhvatit za bočok_

_i potaŝit vo lesok, i potaŝit vo lesok._

_Pod rakitovyj kustok. K nam, volčok, ne-_

The taller man took off in a sprint, not with the tenacity they had been gifted by the Entity but, rather, with the same sort of grace that Susie had seen that red-headed survivor exhibit. She had started to like watching them, nobody quite ran like Meg did. Susie liked to think that maybe they would have been friends if they had grown up in the same town, but she knew better. Before Julie- before **_the Legion_**\- Susie didn’t have friends. She had books and she had homework and she had fourteen thousand places she could be that weren’t _home_, but she didn’t have friends.

She wouldn’t have anybody if it weren’t for Julie, and she wouldn’t have gotten to keep Julie if it weren’t for Frank. The pink-haired wallflower could hear the song starting to get louder- a third sound that was not the gravel of the Entity or the music on the mixed take. Susie… Susie didn’t know this song. She didn’t know any Russian, but the song seemed to be getting louder, seemed to be coming from her left, seemed to be-

** _“Susie move!”_ **

She turned in time to see a red stain.

She turned in time to hear a heartbeat.

She turned in time to see the axe come down.

_The hunt had begun._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! The first installment to this fic, so here goes nothing! 
> 
> I was planning on giving each of the characters their own load outs so feel free to post in the comments what you think Susie, Frank, Julie, and Joey's survivor spread would look like. Also, let me know if you think the chapters should alternate between Legion/Huntress or if I should continue splitting them up like this.


	3. First Hook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Susie struggles to evade the Huntress while the rest of the Legion is introduced to a new set of rules for the game.

The Huntress loomed over Susie, standing easily head and shoulders over even _Joey_. To take her in from bottom to top would have required too much time, too much thought, and too much reason than the pink haired girl could possess at that moment. Every muscle tensed and just like she had on that night at Joey’s old work so long ago the girl was frozen. Fight. Flight. Freeze. Susie Lancaster had always been a _freeze_ type of person; she had always been a prey animal.

The axe came down.

With her hands raised high, the masked woman brought it down- there were nicks and scrapes and though the edge was honed with wicked precision it was clear that this thing had cleaved through many things more visceral than mere wood. Susie shrunk downward knowing full well that she could not have run away from this terrible predator in time to avoid the blow. The Huntress’s weapon sunk deep into Susie’s shoulder and the pain was like nothing she had imagined before. Tendons torn, muscles severed, blade sunk deep and near to touching bone. All that snapped her out of her own petrified state was the pain and way it forced her to remember that she needed to be _quiet_. Pain stole the words from her lips, the song from her ears, and all she could hear was the sound of a blazing heartbeat- either that of the killer or perhaps her own. 

Susie pulled her left arm to her body protectively, cradling her near useless appendage to her body as she finally gained the wherewithal to scramble away. The broad axe was stuck useless in the wall behind her quarry; Anna’s hand immediately went to her belt to reach for her hatched. She could hear its whispers in her ear and feel its warm vibrations tingling against her fingers. The woman pulled her arm back; the rabbit ran predictably. Straight line, easy shot. But she had seemed so innocent, so sad- didn’t even fight back even though they both knew the girl _had_ a weapon.

Maybe-

** _NO._ **

Always… always no.

The Entity craved its prize. Its suffering. Its _meal_. Anna could not make this quick. She readied her throw, willing to cleave the weakest of them all, deprive the Legion of their strength in numbers. The hatchet cut through the air towards Susie, aimed clear to land in her back, but the girl seemed to think quickly; the Huntress had a tell. Strong though she was, she was also _loud. _Winding up a hatchet was not a quick process and her focus had been so heavily on creating distance that she did not seem to think that the seemingly naïve girl would know how to avoid being hit with something.

Susie dropped to the ground, grunting in pain from how heavily the ordeal was jostling her near-ruined shoulder. Her blood stained the snow beneath her, but the hatchet flew past where her back had been and cut a path just past her head. Her eyes tracked to where the blade should have landed, and for a moment she found it before the weapon itself seemed to dissolve into the ever-present fog of the Entity’s realm. Bile rose in her throat; Susie understood what was to come. What was _expected_ of them. The pink-haired girl struggled to her feet and staggered around a corner before her eyes fell on a nearby locker.

The nearby crows observed her. _Not a word,_ Susie thoughts, _don’t give it away_. They were not mere crows and she knew they were as much spies for the Entity; Susie hoped that they remembered her. That they may be loyal just this once. That they would not betray her like so many survivors in the past.

-=-

_She couldn’t find the last one. Susie knew that if she made sure that Quentin died then the last survivor would be able to escape through the hatch and then the Entity would be **displeased** with her. Its silence in her ears was evidence enough in its satisfaction but she could still feel an unnatural warmth slithering under her skin. It gave them all **power**, blessed the smaller girl with an unnatural strength that allowed her to run faster and lob full grown men onto the sacrificial hooks. _

_The girl stared down at the young man- not much older than Frank but the exhaustion etched onto his features seemed to be from more than a lack of sleep. Her fingers tensed around the knife as she observed the dying man. He clutched his ribs, half curled into a ball and unable to bring himself to his feet. He knew what was coming. _

_He accepted it. _

_He was **counting** on it. _

_In the distance, the crows dispersed. One then two then a third. Susie took a step back before leaving the man to bleed on the ground. Once she took care of Kate, the youngest member of the Legion would come back for Quentin. _

-=-

** _Susie move!_ **

That axe would have taken Susie’s goddamned arm off if it hadn’t gotten stuck in the wall. A very familiar sort of rage built inside of Frank. There was no hesitation; he lunged at the Huntress. In a normal world- in a place where they were fighting people and not monsters- Frank Morrison wouldn’t be a person someone wanted to mess with. He was lean and athletic, quick-witted and merciless. He didn’t fight fair, and he didn’t see a _need_ to fight fair.

This was a land of monsters- monsters who served a more profound calling than mere amusement.

The Huntress was no mere woman. Not anymore.

Frank threw himself at his opponent, the speed and force of him enough to knock her away from being able to pry her axe from the wood beside them. His hand went to the hunting knife that had become a constant companion, blood still fresh from the previous trial. The Legion had never been known as precise killers; there was no need for finesse, only brutality. Each stab was intended to be enough to wound someone and slow them down; their pain would be their downfall and the choice to either tend their wounds or bleed out was the crux of their hunting strategy.

His knife plunged deep into the Huntress’s abdomen, coaxing forth a displeased grunt from the killer before them. The man tried to withdraw the blade, ready to stab at her once again before her strong grasp wrapped around his wrist and held him tight. The taller woman brought her knee hard into his gut, knocking the wind out of Frank and bringing a familiar pain back to his senses. He would not let go of the knife. He would **not** let the masked woman get back to her axe; they wouldn’t stand a chance if she stayed armed.

The commotion took little time to reach the other two members of the Legion inside of the lodge, and soon enough Julie and Joey made their presences known. This was not a blur. Everything about the fight happened in real time, happened with such precise detail that nothing was spared. The smell of blood, the continuous hum of the creature holding Frank’s arm, and the trail of blood leading away were just as obvious as the lack of Susie in this picture.

When Julie and Joey breached the door they seemed more like they had so many trials before. Pretty girl and class clown. What had not changed about them was their loyalties. **_“Go get Susie-”_** Frank insisted, words rushed and pulled taut. Joey was always the one who would jump first when he asked… Except even now, Frank never _asked_. He just _said_ and things were _done_. 

Julie needed more coaxing, but it was different now.

She needed no encouragement to _attack_. <strike>To _protect_</strike>.

The dark-haired girl lept into action, taking her running start before hurling herself at the Russian woman’s back. The sound she made was inhuman and more like a feral creature than that of a lovely young woman. It brought a smile to Frank’s lips and a chill down his spine; he’d rarely gotten the opportunity to see Julie in action but he’d heard stories from survivors, whispers and prayers that they got the sweet one and not **_her_**_._ She _thrived_ here.

But still, the Entity’s realm changed people and this was never intended to be a fair fight between two people. Julie wrapped her legs around Anna’s midsection, her left arm thrown about her neck while the other braced in hopes of choking the behemoth of a woman out.

The Huntress smirked, a morbid delight on her features as though she knew some grand secret that they didn’t. The look did not last long as Frank finally managed to pull the knife further up, tearing muscle and deepening the already existing stab wound. Anna shoved him away, and the man retrieved his blade with that shove. Frank sprawled backwards and the knife clattered from his hands. Meanwhile, their assailant struggled to deal with the woman on her back.

“Who _are_ you?!” Julie demanded.

_“Bayu bayushki bayu-”_

“What the **_fuck_** does that mean-“

“-_Ne ložisja na kraju-_”

Anna slammed her back against the wall once, then twice. The light was starting to grow dim for her, but each hit dared to pry Julie from her back more and more; the third being strong enough for the Russian woman to feel a familiar crack and a wet cry come from the girl’s lips. The sudden pain was enough to make Julie loosen her grasp, and the sudden space was enough to let Anna reach for her broad axe. Distracted, she turned her back to her quarry; their leader wouldn’t lunge if he thought he would hurt the green-eyed girl. Anna knew their loyalties well and knew what she could exploit.

Frank staggered to his knees, reaching for the knife that he knew was by his side only to feel… nothing. He **_knew_** it had been there. He had seen it fall out of his hands, he knew where it should have been but instead he found-

Nothing.

No weapon.

Not even a goddamned rock to throw at that _thing_ in front of them.

_“Shit.“_

The Huntress slammed Julie against the wall one last time before the younger woman fell to the ground, clutching her broken ribs in agony. Her breathing was disgusting, and she could feel blood trying to invade her mouth; she should have been afraid, but the young woman only looked furious. She tried to push herself to her feet but was too staggered and exhausted to push herself back up just yet. Frank hated that look as much as he loved her defiance. Her fire that only existed because he put it there. _(All lies, you see, all lies. They would follow him to the ends of the earth but there had to be something to mold in order to survive in this place. <strike>They were nothing without him</strike>.) _

Anna turned to the wall and grasping the broad axe with both hands, she gave a guttural growl and yanked it from the side of the building. Its blade had dulled, but this only meant that the abuse her prey were to receive would not be swift or merciful. No…. The Legion did not deserve mercies, small or large, not after the things they had done since coming to this Hellscape and yet-

And yet-

There was some kind of humanity that clung to them moreso than any of the other killers. It would be their ruin.

Frank rushed to Julie, knowing if he as unarmed there was little he could do to protect her save for taking the hit himself. He flung himself over her, just in time for the Huntress to take a swing at the two of them with the recently-freed axe. She swung, and the blade cleaved through layers of fake leather and fleece to slice across the young man’s back. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. Frank’s body was insisting that he give up and all he could do was exist on sheer force of grit and _fuck you_ and whatever else kept him from breaking.

The Huntress stalked forward, kicking the younger man off before regarding the dazed Julie beneath him. The woman turned her axe around before letting out another powerful growl. The handle of her weapon collided with Julie’s temple, making a sickening _crack_ and forcing the green-eyed girl to roll to her side. Her pupils dilated, her expression vacant- only barely aware.

In a normal situation, these sorts of injuries should have killed them. **_Would_** have killed them.

But… death was never an escape, was it?

The Huntress readjusted her grip before crouching down to pick up the rag doll beneath her. Her struggles were half-hearted and uncoordinated, and Frank could only try to keep himself together long enough that he could get some sort of assistance to stand or the internal fortitude to do it himself. He watched helpless as the taller woman rounded the corner. The seconds ticked on forever until a primal, agonized scream ripped through the air and alerted every one of the Legion as to what had just happened. Time was precious in those moments; the heartbeat was faint and all that lingered was the sound of the lullaby lingering in the air. 

Like so many before them, Julie had been placed forward as an offering to the Entity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, fun fact: I'm running with the idea that Susie runs Spies from the Shadows on her killer load out and Calm Spirit on her survivor spread. I thought it would be a nice dichotomy to see her have a little murder of birds that think she's cool... even if they are just minor manifestations of the Entity's power. Ya know. NBD. 
> 
> That or the Entity is just like "OOH A BIRD" and jacks crows while it's taking survivors and killers.


End file.
